They don't have Thales AVOD, but they do have Rockwell Collins AVOD. Not as new, but still AVOD.

a small bump to this thread.

Flying BA2039 LGW - MCO next Friday and had a few queries.

I'm one of those people that cannot sleep on planes, so I always end up viewing as many films as possible! It doesn't help that I'm also a video quality snob either! Last year I flew to NYC with ba but it was an AA codeshare. The plane came fitted with touchscreen tablets on each headrest, and the selection of films and quality of the video was outstanding! Does anyone know what the plane I'm flying with next Friday is going to be like? Are the 772s from lgw to mco still the un upgraded ones?

Thanks in advance!

LGW aircraft all have Rockwell Collins AVOD and the older WT/WTP cabins.

I wish I knew what that meant!

Is that a good thing or a bad thing. Any pictures floating around?

Relatively speaking, it's a bad thing: the Rockwell Collins system is much worse in quality than the new Thales system.

Basically if you're used to an iPad or similar, you will definitely find the screen and controls to be very outdated. However it's still sufficient to keep you entertained on a long flight and most importantly is 'on demand', i.e. you can pause and rewind your films.

One thing you must do though is bring your own headphones as the supplied ones are pretty useless. I recommend either in-ear buds (good for sleeping with) or noise cancelling ones if you have them.

Here is an image from google of what to expect:

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/43/80...4f2b17ed88.jpg

BA have images of their new and old cabins on their website:

World Traveller Plus:
http://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/...traveller-plus

World Traveller:
http://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/...orld-traveller

A Google Image Search will also prove fruitful.

Rockwell Collins AVOD (Audio Video On Demand) is the previous generation IFE system, so has less of a choice than Thales AVOD (which is the latest generation system), and has a lower quality picture. Rockwell Collins and Thales are the companies who made the IFE systems.

Thanks for clearing that up guys! That's an awful shame to hear, but guess I can't complain too much, at least there's something to keep me occupied.

I've noticed on basource that on some occasions they have a different plane do the lgw-mco route...14F/48J/40W/124Y

I'm assuming that one is the refurbed one...fingers crossed although not holding my breath

Unfortunately not. Those aircraft are still part of the LGW fleet, and thus have the older WT/WTP cabins.

However, occasionally an aircraft is subbed in from the LHR fleet and this may have the newer cabins. I see this happened on 16 August (G-VIIH) but it is fairly rare.

Cheers mate!

Is there anyway of knowing beforehand what plane(registration) you'll get?

Not really. Only if an insider can be persuaded to post the information, and even then it can change at a very late stage.

Well I just checked in, and WT started at Row 15, so I guess I have my answer! It's definitely the 3-class

Can I just clarify, do all 777 from Gatwick now have AVOD? I have an upcoming trip on a 4-class 772ER and last time I was on one of those (2012 IIRC) they only had tape loop IFE, and it seems none are getting a cabin refresh with the new WT/+ seats so have they just updated the IFE without doing the seats?

Yes - all 777 at Gatwick have AVOD. And, correct me if im wrong but I think the tape loop IFE has now been eliminated completely from the entire fleet, so it should be all AVOD.

Also, didnt I read somewhere recently that BA have planned to refurbish all remaining 777's in the fleet? Might have been in a recent IAG announcement. This would make sense since i know they are going to reconfigure some of the fleet at LGW to have less CW seats.

There was an announcement a few months ago. But it was vaguely worded; it didn't seem entirely plausible if the words were taken at face value; but AFAIK there has as yet been no clarification of the exact scope, extent or time frame for this programme.

Entire long haul fleet -- the short haul 767s still have tape loop systems, or at least the one I had to Athens a few months back did.